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You know that sweet Southern style we all adore so much? With the peony and garden rose bouquet, and the soft shades of pink and blue? Well, Kelsey + Evan had all that and more, but what I really love is that they staged their sweet wedding not in a backyard, but in the Matt Jones Gallery, a modern art space in Birmingham. Talented planner and stylist Ginny Au brought everything together seamlessly, and Caleb of 509 Photo provided the beautiful photos!

My family is Southern transplanted, and Evan is Southern born and raised, so it was important for us to honor the places that shaped who we are and where we fell in love. One of my favorite details was the glass bottle Cokes representing my Atlanta upbringing and Jack Daniels for Evan’s Tennessee roots. We tied those up with vintage bottle openers that we had collected for that reason. We also had bags of peanuts from the Peanut Depot on Morris Avenue in downtown Birmingham, which is a definite Birmingham must-visit spot!

There was an Amsale dress that I had been dreaming of since before we were engaged. I tried it on in Birmingham, but wanted my dad to see it first, so I made the trip home to Atlanta to try on gowns at Bridals by Lori with both my mother and father. I was sure it was going to be the one, but when I put it back on I didn’t feel the same way. After trying on many other gowns, I tried on the Rivini “Freya” gown. It had just come in the night before, and no one had tried it on yet. I knew it was the one when I was looking at myself in the gown, rather than just the dress itself.

Kelsey’s bouquet was one of my favorite things about this wedding (those ribbons!), so I’m not surprised to hear her guests were impressed! My flowers were absolute perfection. My wonderful planner introduced me to Holly and Katie who teamed up to create my garden party florals. Every arrangement they designed was different, from the bridesmaids’ bouquets to the altar arrangements. Because of the early spring this year, I got really lucky with flowers in that I was able to get my beloved peonies and lush dahlias mixed with varieties of garden roses. The girls tied my bridal bouquet with vintage ribbons and a handkerchief that my mother had collected for me. I am a sucker for a big ole full bouquet, and my arm was surely tired from toting it around. I still have people raving about our flowers, which is such a compliment!

Did you decide to do a “first look”? We decided not to do a first look before the ceremony. It was such an emotional moment when the doors opened, and we locked eyes all the way down the aisle.
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We decided to use traditional marriage vows; there is something so romantic about speaking the same words so many couples have said through the ages.
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? Evan’s sister and brother-in-law also live in Birmingham. It was so important to us to have them participate in our ceremony, so we had them read Colossians 3: 12-17 (NRSV) and a poem called “The Wedding Vow.”

A little PSA from Kelsey: Please please please hire a wedding planner that understands your aesthetic. Even if you know what vendors you want and possibly have already booked them, a planner will take your pieces and turn them into a cohesive vision and eliminate all the stresses of having everything done for the big day. It is a MUST!

My wedding cake was a vanilla butter-cream confection designed to mimic the textures in my dress as well as the flower from my sash. We also had a chocolate and peanut butter ganache groom’s cake and a milk and cookie bar.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Evan and I met our freshman year at Samford University. We had a class together that fall semester, but didn’t really get to know each other until the end of the school year. We had mutual friends within our Greek organizations and started hanging out in groups until we began dating exclusively the following October.
Describe the proposal. One of our favorite things to do throughout our college years was exploring Birmingham, but we never made it to the Vulcan. The Vulcan is a symbol of Birmingham and looks out over the entire city. I had always secretly hoped that maybe a trip there would mean a proposal. Evan picked me up that Monday night and asked me if I wanted to head over to the Vulcan. We enjoyed looking out over the city for a few moments, and then he let me know that it was time to go. I was kind of surprised that we were leaving and that nothing had happened, so when we were walking to the car he asked me if I was expecting anything up at the top of the statue. Evan loves to joke around with me, so it was appropriate that he stuck it to me right before he asked for my hand in marriage. After calling our families (who had no idea that we were getting engaged that night!) we enjoyed a beautiful dinner at one of our favorite spots in the Edgewood neighborhood of Birmingham at Gianmarco’s.
In what month did you get married? June
How many guests attended your wedding? 125
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: My precious grandfather passed unexpectedly two weeks prior to our wedding. It was so important for us to honor him during our day, so I wore his wedding ring sewn into my dress along with the lace from my Nana’s wedding dress, while Evan wore one of his cuff links along with one of his late grandfather’s cuff links.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Our biggest challenge that we had to overcome in planning our wedding would probably be keeping everything organized once everyone arrived in Birmingham. Almost every guest had to travel to celebrate with us, so making sure everyone felt included and appreciated was something we really needed to be mindful of (thank heavens for Southern hospitality, y’all!).
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? The photographer! Caleb Chancey of 509 Photo is one of the most incredibly talented and wonderful people I have ever met. My family and I could not be happier with that decision.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? After leaving our reception, Caleb drove with us to Samford to take pictures at the place where everything started for us as a couple. I felt so relaxed and happy with how the day had gone, and was finally able to take it all in with my new husband.

emily Written with love by Emily
7 Comments
  1. avatar Leanne Polk reply

    Beautiful and creative — down to every last detail. Amazing ideas!

  2. avatar Madelynne Moulton reply

    I may be biased, but I absolutely love matt jones for a reception space! Their decor was polar opposite of ours – color, style, decor – and it looks STUNNING in the gallery. Beautiful wedding!

  3. avatar Desiree reply

    Beautiful! Can we please find out the instructions for making that incredible chandelier that hung over the cake!? I love that idea! :)

  4. avatar Cameron reply

    Love!! Really love the mint ties and grey suits! Could we find out where they purchased those from pretty please?!? Thanks!

  5. avatar Lauran Stephens reply

    Beautiful bride! Handsome groom! Lovely wedding……….every single detail! My hat is off to Lori and Kelsey! Ginny did such a wonderful job, such organization! Caleb!!!! beautiful memories captured on film. I may be a tiny bit partial……….the groom is my son :o)

  6. avatar Brittany reply

    Would love to know where the mint ties are from also! Great color!

  7. avatar Ginny Au reply

    The groomsmen ties are from Tux & Tulle, and Etsy shop. Also, it is a doily chandelier, and you can find great instructions on Martha Stewart’s Weddings website. Hope that helps. Ginny

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Ohhhh, Madelynne. Y’all, I seriously feel like I know this gal. She was one of our lovely Southern Brides of the Month (post here!), she’s a Southern Bride Blogger, and in between, she’s been a devoted SW reader and frequenter blog commenter (love that!). So when Stephen DeVries sent me her wedding photos, I kind of knew we’d be featuring them even if it turned out she wore a paper bag to get married to Corey. Which she didn’t, but still. And was anyone surprised when she returned her interview back within 24 hours? Not I! :)

People underestimate the amount of work that goes into invitations and save the dates when you do it yourself. Designing and assembling invites was EXHAUSTING! It took us about a week to finish, even with my family’s help one day.

Describe your wedding flowers: My bouquet contained billy balls, yellow ranunculus, dusty miller, white hydrangeas, coral roses, yellow and white peony, and succulents. The bridesmaid’s bouquets contained white and green hydrangeas, white tulip, yellow calla lilies, hypericum berries, dusty miller, billy balls, and yellow ranunculus. The groomsmen had yellow ranunculus and billy balls, and the groom had a billy ball, dusty miller and jade plant. The arrangements had most of these flowers along with gerbera daisies, spider mums, yellow tulips, bells of Ireland, yellow lilies, and assorted roses.

How much do you love Madelynne’s face when she saw Corey’s wedding gift to her? Happy girl :) We each had two most memorable moments from the wedding day. Corey says the first look, where he cried like a baby seeing me, and he also loved standing in the back of the church, looking through the window to watch the church fill up with all the people we love. My first was when we exchanged gifts. He wrapped my gift in a Toms shoebox so I thought he was giving me Toms; when I opened the box and there was a Tiffany box in there. I died! My second was when the doors opened to the church as I was about to walk down the aisle; it was the biggest rush of excitement. It wasn’t until that moment that it hit me we were actually getting married!

Love that red lipstick!

Let’s talk about Madelynne’s wedding gown for a minute. I found it within weeks of getting engaged at a local consignment store. My mother and I decided to breeze in there one day with zero expectations. There was a Carolina Herrera gown about 75% off that had never been worn, fit almost perfect, and was the most stunning silhouette. There were tears, but I was very nervous to buy it since the wedding was so far away. I put it on hold, checked out David’s Bridal, and drove back to school the next day. I called my mom while I was on the road (drowning in my own thoughts) and told her to go buy that thing! I made one slight modification to the neckline, changing it into a sweetheart, which made it absolutely perfect.

I love the above photo so much! So much anticipation. Good job, Stephen DeVries :)

Did you write your own vows?We chose to do traditional vows, just like our generations before us had. My grandmother and late grandfather got married in the very same church in the 1950s!
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? We had 1 Corinthians 13 Verses 4-7 and Colossians 3: 12-17, my two favorites.
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. We used traditional music for the ceremony, including “Edelweiss” for the grandparent’s processional , “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” for the wedding processional, “Trumpet Voluntary’ for the bride’s processional, and “Wedding March” for the recessional. Our first dance was to “Let it Be Me” by Ray LaMontagne.

My mother made all of the paper flowers hanging at the reception, the chevron table linens, the pew flowers, the send-off shakers (with the help of her teacher friends!), the bridal party’s earrings, the gift card box, and the C+M logo. She worked so very hard and it made the wedding so much more special. My husband and I designed the programs, RSVP cards, invites, reception signage, and save the dates. We also spray-painted a ton of things to fit our color scheme!

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? The food was the most Southern part! We had BBQ pork and chicken, baked beans, mac and cheese, potato salad, cheese biscuits, lemonade, and sweet tea. Other Southern aspects were the inclusion of a groom’s cake, the whole bridal party wearing pearls, giving handkerchiefs to all the grandmothers and mothers (I held one too), having everything in downtown Birmingham, and having koozies as our favor, since those are an SEC tailgate staple.

The wedding cake was lemon with lemon buttercream and had the zig zag motif from our invitations on the third tier. The groom’s cake was alternating tiers of chocolate and strawberry with vanilla buttercream. His cake had an argyle pattern on the third tier that matched his socks.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met trying to get into the cutthroat architecture program at Auburn University. We bonded over late nights, sitting by each other in class, iPod sharing, riding Tiger Transit (Auburn’s public transit system for students), and eating Zaxby’s and Momma G’s. We were in the ‘friend zone’ for about 6 months until I dropped the bomb on him on my birthday in 2007 that I was hopelessly in love with him. We never looked back!
Describe the proposal. I came to Auburn one weekend to visit him since I was doing an off-campus thesis. He had gotten the ring earlier that week and had NO idea how to propose. A light bulb went off in his head that he would make a faux wedding blog with a proposal at the end. Anyone that knows me can vouch for the fact that I am 100% obsessed with wedding blogs! He had to hack into my Gmail and subscribe me to the blog so I’d click on it when I did my nightly blog browsing. Appropriately, I was watching The Bachelor and browsing my blogs on my phone when he got up and ran into his bedroom to grab the ring. I got excited when I got to this post where the girl had my name and my favorite wedding colors. By the time I realized what was going on, he was in front of me on one knee. Needless to say I was totally shocked. It was so perfect, just the two of us together, which is exactly how I had always wanted it.
In what month did you get married? April 14, 2012 on a perfect sunny day.
How many guests attended your wedding? About 225.
Did you decide to do a “first look”? Why or why not? Absolutely yes! It was a wonderful decision for us. We got out all our emotions and nerves when it was just the two of us. I’m so glad we did a first look because when I walked down the aisle, I was so distracted by all my sweet friends and family smiling at me that I didn’t even look at him until I got to the end of the aisle!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The groom’s favorite detail was the family wedding portrait display at the reception. My favorite details were the bouquets and the reception site/décor.
What range did your wedding budget fall into? On the low end of the $25,000-$50,000 range.
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? Definitely the photography. Stephen DeVries absolutely blew us away. He truly captured the essence of our day. We were also really happy with the live musician. Odie was fantastic and fun.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding?
1. The more you plan the day out, the smoother it will go (think lists!)
2. It was worth every penny – I am GLAD we didn’t elope
3. It helps tremendously to have someone around who’s been married in the recent past (aka: my sister and matron of honor)
4. Be selfish – ask for help –you will be happy you did!
5. First look is great – you can get out all your emotions without everyone watching.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We are living and working in Atlanta, taking it one day at a time! We have a Boston Terrier puppy coming in August – a gift of my husband’s sweet family, and we can’t wait! We ultimately want to end up in Nashville and I would LOVE to work in the wedding industry! We want kids in maybe 4 or 5 years.

Stephen DeVries is a fabulous member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

emily Written with love by Emily
12 Comments
  1. avatar Corey and Madelynne: Featured SWS! | Stephen Devries Chronicles reply

    […] I’m so excited to share this wedding with you and the readers of SWS!  Corey and Madelynne were so much fun and had an amazing eye for making their vision come to life at their wedding!  They worked so hard on their big day and it really showed, both in how amazing the day went and looked and in how happy they were with everything!  I loved shooting with them and was so excited when SWS picked up the wedding.  You can view the SWS blog HERE. […]

  2. avatar Lisa reply

    Congratulations, Madelynne!! So fun to see a Southern Bride of the Month’s beautiful wedding!

  3. avatar Inspiration Board #2 – yellow, coral, and white | threembride reply

    […] My floral bouquet – picture by Stephen DeVries Photography – It was fun taking my bouquet and applying it to a very different color palette than what I had […]

  4. avatar LulaKate : Blog Lovin’: Southern Wedding Magazine Chevron Wedding reply

    […] can see more of this fabulous wedding featuring Lulakate right HERE! Share < […]

  5. avatar Jenna reply

    Where did you get the cute can koozies?

    • avatar Nicole reply

      Hi Jenna! Madelynne + Corey got their custom koozies from http://www.personalizeddrinkware.com/

  6. avatar LulaKate : Friday, I’m In Love: Emerald Green reply

    […] Wedding: LulaKate Dresses in Bud, Jasmine and Buttercup Shantung as seen here and […]

  7. avatar Color Story: Emerald Green & Yellow – Everthine Bridal Boutique – a bridal shop serving Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Boston, and Beyond reply

    […] Curow Photography via Ruffled, emerald and yellow bridesmaids image by Stephen DeVries via Southern Weddings, centerpeice image by Laurel McConnell Photography via Style Me […]

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    […] Imágenes de izquierda a derecha y de arriba a abajo/Images: Lauren Fair Photography vía Style Me Pretty, Jason Hales Photography vía 100 Layer Cake, Green Wedding Shoes, Sarah Maren Photography vía Style Me Pretty, Stephen Devries Weddings vía  Southern Weddings. […]

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  10. avatar Candace reply

    Awesome pics and story! What did you use to make the ribbon streamers?

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    […] Stephen DeVries via Southern Weddings // Tavolo: Merari Photography via Style Me Pretty // Bouquet: Juliet McKee via Love My Dress // […]

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Lizzie + Greg’s reception made for a beautiful New Year’s Eve celebration! Guests headed to the beautiful Telfair Museum where tables decked with white hydrangeas and candle-lit trees filled the space. I’m always a fan of gold chiavari chairs and I think they carry the sparkle of New Year’s Eve throughout the room perfectly, without being overwhelming. Lizzie + Greg were wonderful hosts and provided guests with festive hats to ring in the New Year, cigars to celebrate, and pashminas to keep warm. Of course, no wedding is complete without a few sweets! A dessert bar treated guests all night while a cake shaped and decorated in the form of Lizzie + Greg’s favorite champagne gave the newlyweds the chance to partake in the cake-cutting tradition. At the end of the night, everyone welcomed in the New Year and the happy couple took their exit through a line of sparklers and into a white vintage car. Now that’s the ultimate way to celebrate! Big thanks to Nate Henderson for sharing!

See all the photos from Lizzie + Greg’s wedding in their Real Wedding Gallery!

Describe your wedding cake or dessert: We had a dessert bar and wedding cake. The dessert bar included mini desserts: pecan tassies, chocolate éclairs, Savannah trifles, tarlets filled with key lime mousse, chocolate mint mousse, and raspberry mousse, and sweet and spicy popcorn. We aren’t huge fans of cake, but my wedding planner felt strongly about something for us to cut. We decided to have a cake shaped as a bottle of our favorite champagne, Vueve Clicquot. We thought it would be a nice touch since it was New Year’s. The “label” on the cake had our names on it and the year we met, 2007.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The biggest challenge was probably just the distance. My wedding planner was incredible and my mom also helped with the heavy lifting, since we live in NYC. Also, we both have jobs that require a lot of focus and hours, so we don’t have much spare time during the work week.
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? For me, the wedding planner. For Greg, it was the band.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? (From the bride) When we walked into the Telfair Museum and everyone was standing around greeting us for the first time as a married couple. Every person we loved under one roof was a pretty powerful vision. (From the groom) Seeing Lizzie walk down the aisle. She tried so hard to get me to see her beforehand for pictures, but I stood my ground and am so glad I did.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Be decisive! There is no reason to try on 1,000 dresses or look at 20 venues. Just know what you want, make a decision and move on. Also, just have fun with it because you only do it once and it is such a sweet time in your life.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Everything! We are just having a great time being a team and enjoying life together.

Photographer: Nate Henderson // Videographer: Savannah Wedding Films // Planner: Tricia Huddas and Co. // Ceremony venue: Blessed Sacrament // Reception venue: Telfair Museum // Florist: Garden on the Square // Wedding Cake Baker: Two Cakes // Caterer: Cape Creations Catering, Inc. // Rentals and Linens: Ranco // Lighting: Stage Front // Paper Products: Sarah Salvatoriello // Bride’s Dress: Enzoani // Bride’s Hair Accessories/Veil: earrings from Badgley Mishka, bracelet from J. Crew, veil was custom made, crystal sash from J. Crew // Bride’s Shoes: Jimmy Choo // Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Enzoani

nicoleyang Written with love by Nicole
2 Comments
  1. avatar Tim Duncan reply

    The centerpieces are gorgeous! Love the hanging candles!

  2. avatar sandra kersten reply

    what if I would like something as simple as the font/resource for the gentleman/cigar sign in the picture frame? can you help me with that?

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